


The Best Man I’ve Ever Known (I’m Not Your Son)

by SuperSilverSpy



Series: Multipurpose Grayson, All In One, Whatever You Want Him To Be: Brother, Mother, Father, and Friend (Among Other Things) [1]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU
Genre: Abuse, Angst, Bruce Wayne’s A+ Parenting, Bruce Wayne’s F- Parenting, Bruce Wayne’s N- Parenting, Depression, Dick Grayson Has Issues, Dick Grayson Needs a Hug, Dick Grayson Whump, Dick Grayson is Not Okay, Dick Grayson-centric, Emotional Hurt, Gen, He really does canonically suck at it, Hurt, Hurt Dick Grayson, Hurt No Comfort, I’m Setting the Scene Fic, Prequel, Rant Fic, SilverGrayson, SuperSilverSpy, Unhealthy Relationships, Unreliable Narrator, What he sees and thinks may not be what’s actually happening, Whump, XD, actually, borderline abuse, jk, vent fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-02
Updated: 2020-12-02
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:41:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,151
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27831700
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SuperSilverSpy/pseuds/SuperSilverSpy
Summary: “The man didn’t love him, Dick knew he didn’t, even as he himself continued to love the guy like his father.“OR Dick & Bruce: complicated batproblems, a little darker than usualOR Batman’s N- parenting
Relationships: Dick Grayson & Bruce Wayne
Series: Multipurpose Grayson, All In One, Whatever You Want Him To Be: Brother, Mother, Father, and Friend (Among Other Things) [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2037019
Comments: 34
Kudos: 183





	The Best Man I’ve Ever Known (I’m Not Your Son)

**Author's Note:**

> A new series...  
> Who, me?  
> Yea, I did it again  
> Firstly, it will deal with Bruce’s overall treatment of Dick,  
> And how the batbros finally do something about it  
> Secondly, it will dig deeper into the whole spiral mess  
> Daddybats is great and all, but he’s simply not cannon  
> And I’m bitter, not to mention better at writing angst than fluff  
> So here you go  
> Enjoy!

It started when Bruce kicked him out. When the man who’d been telling him he loved him did the unthinkable. That was when he knew. It got worse when Jason came, when the little bit that was left behind from his parents was taken: already ripped brutally from him, then given to someone else, someone undeserving, unknowing, ignorant. He hated Bruce, wanted to hate the new kid too, but it wasn’t Jason’s fault, and he despised Bruce all the more for it.

The man didn’t love him, Dick knew he didn’t, even as he himself continued to love the guy like his father. Whoever said love and hate were opposites didn’t know the half of it. No matter what Batman or Bruce, either or both of them, does or has done, he would always forgive, never forget; and he should have stayed away, cast out as he was. It would have been better for him. Dick had his own job, his own city, none of it should have been his responsibility and yet, it was. He tried to connect with Jason, but each time fought with Bruce. Neither would give in, he valued his independence, himself, he had pride, and they were both stubborn.

Then his Little Wing was dead, the news reaching him nearly a month after the fact, long after the funeral— Bruce had neglected to tell him. From this, Dick learned, and the next time they fought, he bent. One glance, one mention, one  _ thought  _ of Tim, of  _ Jason _ , and he stopped.

Instead of pushing back, fighting further, instead of leaving for weeks or even months like he once would have, he stayed. Stopped arguing, let Bruce have his way. Held his chin high and hung out with Tim, with his little brother, because Dick was never the man’s son, but Bruce was always his father.

Then Jason was back, murderous and filled with rage. There were so many complications, but at the end of the day, he was just glad to have his Little Wing back. To have a second chance and reunite his family. It was too good to be true.

Damian came, and someone needed to be Batman. The mission mattered more than himself, than anything  _ he  _ might’ve wanted. Bruce never loved him but it was his duty to carry on, to live the life of the man who’d raised him, because Dick owed him everything.

Then Bruce came back, came back to the wreckage a failing man had turned his family into. Free of it all, Nightwing returned to Blüdhaven, ready to get his life back on track. His brothers were mad at him for some reason or another, it seemed like everyone always was, but he was okay with that. So long as they were alive, so long as they knew he was there for them.

He put up with Bruce, did whatever he asked as he’d always done. Jason would tease him for it, could hate him for it, but he just didn’t understand. Dick would do  _ anything  _ for them, didn’t they see? Bruce knew, had always known it. Had  _ used  _ him. Dick wasn’t stupid, he knew what the man was doing, how Batman manipulated and lied and forced— but it was okay, it was always okay, because he apologized. That was enough, as long as his father was sorry, as long as there was recognition that Dick had been hurt and it was wrong. Bruce apologized and he was trying and he was a great man too, you know? Dick did, that’s what he told himself

(“the best man I’ve ever known”) 

People  _ needed  _ Bruce, they  _ needed _ Batman. The real one, not Dick’s own sorry excuse. His  _ brothers  _ needed Bruce and Dick needed them. To keep them together, to keep them all safe. They needed  _ each other _ , and it was his job to make sure as little pain as possible befell them. He’d failed so many times before— but they were his legacy, his brothers, his _ family _ .

Trauma after trauma, things went wrong in Blüdhaven. In his city, for himself. Dick hurt. Blockbuster, Tarantula— everything fell apart, and his life was gone with it. 

It was fine though, he still had his family, right? Then the Crime Syndicate kidnapped him,  _ tortured  _ him, and he woke, bleary and in pain, to the end of the world. A bomb strapped to his heart, dependent on each beat. Luthor in his face, chest feeling tight, unable to move— he can’t— he can’t— he can’t— 

He can’t do anything.

The next thing he knows, he’s in pain, beaten down by  _ Bruce _ ,demanding he get back up and fight for himself, for his future. He doesn’t win, he fails again, and he goes off to spy. He does it for his family, for his father, because he has no other choice. 

(“I trained you to live and I watched you die!”)

When he comes home what he gets is far from welcoming, and Dick thinks, numbly, that Bruce would never have done this to any of the others. No, because Dick was a state of the art batarang, a grappling line; a tool made, a weapon sharpened, and a thing _ used _ . Batman relied on it to protect him, to carry him and save him, but when the line snaps— he just pulls out a spare.

Bruce mostly loves the others though, not like how it is with Dick. When Jason died, it was obvious; it was when Dick really knew. It was in the beatings of several common criminals, and the Joker in a body cast. The words “it should have been you”, and the blow to his own face with them. How long it took B to warm up to Tim, and how even now, the man tries with them, at his best in a way he hadn’t been for Dick in years,  _ genuine _ .

For Tim it was harder, but Dick has seen them working together. Bruce loves Tim, the boy after his own heart. After Bruce came back from being lost in time, it was the third Robin he’d wanted by his side, not his biological son. It was him Batman trusted more than both Dick and Damian combined.

So Dick tells his brothers, “B loves you” and never, “B loves us”, because as far as he can tell, that’s the truth. In most cases anyway. The man does not love Damian, but the boy does not deserve the pain (unlike Dick), and so he lies, assuring the youngest of his father’s love, because he is sure someday it’ll be true.

No matter how many times B shows it in his affections, or pretends to be concerned over Dick’s well-being, he knows it’s only an act, that it was never real, because Bruce hasn’t said he loves him since he was Robin, and Dick’s okay with that.

As long as everyone else is safe.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my thirteenth actual fic here on ao3 in the dc fandom!  
> It’s the same age as Dickie was when he was with the YJ team  
> Speaking of which, I recently subscribed to the DCU app thing as an early Christmas present to myself  
> I’m re-watching YJ and actually watching Titans(2018) as I’ve been wanting to do for so long  
> There’s my excuse for not updating To Be The Robin like I keep saying I will  
> Cause the more I watch and read, the more and more accurate content you’ll get, so yay!  
> After I update that, my bthb will get another prompt fill  
> Then I’ll likely start a new series because, you know, me  
> Hope you all enjoyed!  
> Please tell me what you thought, comments and feedback are always welcome  
> Don’t forget to subscribe :)  
> And as always, infinite kudos to my beta teeelsie 
> 
> Stay whelmed, traught, and remember to feel the aster  
> -Silver


End file.
